I want you to experience how a skilled teacher makes certain that her first graders learn to read. Imagine that you’re sitting in the back of a classroom of First Graders, most of them 6-years-old, a few of them age 5. It’s early October, and the students already know their letters and the sounds … Continue reading Read This If You Want to Learn to Read
Every state in our union has a compulsory school attendance law, but why do we require schooling? What is the purpose of school? Or the purposes? Here are seven (perhaps overlapping) possibilities: I am giving a talk in about 10 days to a sophisticated audience, and I’d appreciate your thoughts. You can post a public … Continue reading Why Do We Have Schools?
Reading is a skill. Full Stop. Reading is not a science! Full stop. Chemistry, Biology, and Physics are sciences, but reading is a skill, much like tuning a piano or an automobile engine, or throwing a pot or a frisbee. Those who would have us believe that “A Science of Reading” exists, and that it … Continue reading Reading is NOT a ‘Science’
No, scratch that. Imagine instead that you’re Chuck Schumer, the Minority Leader of the United States Senate, a distinguished statesman who has served in the Senate since 1999, representing New York State. A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, Senator Schumer also served nine terms in the US House before winning his Senate … Continue reading PRETEND YOU’RE A DEMOCRAT
Two years ago my son, Josh, gave me a fascinating birthday present, this clock that runs backward. He engineered it himself, working with a cheap battery-powered wall clock. He told me that he got it right on his third try. Here’s a photo, taken this morning. The clock reads 1:16 Underneath the clock is the … Continue reading Turning Back the Clock
We did it! The goal had three simple parts: My job was to ‘bike my age’ (85). And then 85 people would each donate $85, for a total of $7,225, to the MV Island Housing Trust, which builds attainable, affordable housing for essential workers and their families here on Martha’s Vineyard. 85 times $85 Well, … Continue reading VICTORY!!
On the pre-game show before the World Cup final, Fox reporter Jinny Taft asked President Trump which team he favored. “You can’t bet against Messi,” he said, more than once, basically choosing Argentina to win the World Cup. What then happened: Messi all but disappeared and Argentina played poorly (and thuggishly), losing only 1-0 in … Continue reading Everything Trump Touches…..
Tune in to watch any major sporting event–football, hockey, basketball, women’s softball, etc–and you will be buried in a deluge of invitations to wager from Draft Kings and other companies. And millions are accepting the invitation. One American adult in five is participating, wagering nearly $11 Billion. (Journalists are trained to ask “Cui bono?” Who … Continue reading Wanna Bet?
Some of Trump’s allies and supporters say that the expression “86-47” is a call to assassinate President Donald J. Trump. As you no doubt are aware, Trump’s Justice Department has persuaded a grand jury in North Carolina to indict former FBI Director James Comey simply because he posted an image of seashells organized to read … Continue reading “86-47”? HELL, YES
(Note to readers: While this essay is about Martha’s Vineyard, the island off the coast of Massachusetts, its larger lesson is about income inequality, a real and growing problem. There’s no quick fix, no easy solution. Building affordable, attainable housing is one small but essential step.) Our Black Lab made the connection, the way dogs … Continue reading A Room of Her Own